Naruto of the Forest
by Maschbot
Summary: Gaara houses Shukaku, while Naruto hosts Kyuubi, a much stronger demon. Gaara has an absolute defense, while Naruto does not. What if he did?
1. Prologue

Well, I'm sitting here at 10:30 pm, listening to Yellowcard, and all of a sudden I get bit by the writing bug hard. Something completely different from my previous works, and it seems original. At least, I haven't found anything remotely like it, but since I don't read yaoi (70 percent of this fandom, apparently) I may have missed it. The story starts when Naruto is six.

Summary: Gaara houses Shukaku, and has an absolute defense. Naruto houses the Kyuubi, much stronger than Shukaku, but he does not. What if he did?

Story!

"That does it brat! Let's see how you like this!"

"Put me down! You're hurting me!"

"Good! It's less than you deserve, you worthless punk!"

Naruto continued to squall as the angry shopkeeper, apparently an ex-shinobi if his method of travel (roof hopping) was anything to go by, drug him by the scruff of the neck off to god-knows-where. It had only been a little prank anyway, and the old man deserved it for trying to rip him off on the ramen! Naruto had seen two old ladies buy that same stuff for less than half the price the shopkeeper charged him! "Leggo, you crazy old man!"

The former ninja had apparently decided not to answer any more of Naruto's pleas. Instead, he continued seething in silence. '_Goddamn demon spawn always wrecking everything around him_!_ The Hokage may have ordered us not to kill him, but I'm gonna put the fear of god into him tonight_!'

Naruto continued shouting himself hoarse, noticing as other roof-traveling ninjas bounced towards his abductor, only to veer off when they realized who his prey was. Every time a ninja turned their back on him, it sent a little spike into his heart, just as it did when the villagers acted coldly to him, or threw things and yelled at him. '_What did I do_?_ I never pranked no one who didn't do something to me first_!'

Eventually the ninja reached his destination; an old training ground, one he knew to be inhabited by tons of mutant critters that would just love to snack on an evil little blonde kid. Training Ground #44: better known as the Forest of Death.

Naruto realized that they were slowing, and redoubled his efforts to shake himself free, still hollering at the best of his capacity. "I'll get you! You're gonna get a nice big pile of dog shit in your shoes!"

The shopkeeper shook his head disgustedly. "You even talk like a demon. I should've expected." The fact that Naruto was so rough due to a lack of care and the necessity of spending time on the streets didn't seem to occur to him. "Well, you're not gonna be bothering me for a while. In fact, if no one bothers to rescue you, which I doubt anyone will, you won't be bothering anyone anymore. After all, the Hokage only said for us not to kill you; he never mentioned putting you in a situation where you would die."

Naruto froze and paled. "D-d-die! It wasn't that bad! I swear I'll clean up all the paint, mister! Just put me down!"

The shopkeeper smirked, wondering why no one had thought of this before. He had no intention of actually leaving the brat to die; Sandaime would have him killed in as painful a way as possible, not to mention his family and friends. No one knew why he was so protective of the Kyuubi spawn, but it was a fact that none argued. Scaring the shit out of him, and maybe teaching him to respect his betters, was something else entirely. "In you go, punk! I hope the centipedes get ya; the take the longest to kill someone!"

That said, the retired (only recently) shinobi broke the lock on one of the gates cordoning off the forest and chucked the kid in as quick as he could, aiming low to make him roll as far in as possible. It would leave him a little banged up (maybe a lot banged up; details, details), but that would only go further to scare the golden haired menace.

Naruto let out a scream of pure terror that was interrupted by a loud oof! as he hit the ground. He did indeed roll, bouncing over a few roots and royally scraping his arms and legs in the process, before finally hitting a leaf filled depression and stopping. He sniffled as he gingerly sat up, wincing at the scrapes but not crying; he'd gotten worse from kids who wanted to beat up 'the freak my mom told me about.'

After spending nearly a minute sniffling to himself, Naruto got up and tried to get his bearings. The only problem was that he had no idea which way he had come from; he had rolled so much that his sense of direction was totally shot, and he had no where near as much survival training as he would later have. As Naruto realized this, he almost did start crying, only holding in the tears by a thread. Remembering what the nasty, worthless old man had said about centipedes (and while Naruto didn't really know what one of those was, he would be damned if he stuck around and got eaten by one), he decided to pick a direction and hope that the exit lay on that path.

The shopkeeper shook his head as Naruto moved off deeper into the forest. Even though his skills were a bit rusty, he could still avoid the detection of a kid like Naruto easily enough. He'd wait until something suitably threatening emerged, then get the kid out. Shouldn't take too long; something making as much noise as Naruto was, tromping through the sticks and other debris of the undergrowth, was bound to attract predators.

Unfortunately, the shopkeeper neglected to think about what might be sneaking up on him. The beast moved so quietly and quickly that he only had a bare moment's warning before he was being swiped out of his current perch by an obscenely large paw topped with very deadly claws. He shouted in pain and fear as he hit the ground hard, drawing Naruto's attention and spurring on the massive cat that had attacked him.

Naruto was tempted to run like a bat out of hell when he heard the scream, not to mention the huge roar that followed it, but he also felt an insane desire to see what was going on. Reasoning that he would just poke his head into the area he'd heard the scream come from, he scrambled back the way he had come as quietly as he could; not very, to say the least.

When he finally made his away around the last tree that was covering his vision, he froze, seeing the giant tiger-marked cat that was stalking the mean old man who had put him here in the first place. Naruto noticed the blood on the old man's back; if he was already hurt, then he didn't have a chance to get away from the oversized feline. In short, he was just as dead as the old man had said he'd be.

Naruto fell to his knees and started crying. '_I don't want to die_!'

--

Inside Naruto's belly, something that hadn't happened for over three years was happening again. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed demon fox, was throwing himself against the bars of his prison with all the force he could muster. He had done this almost constantly for the first few months of his imprisonment within the damnable human child he had been sealed in, only to eventually give up when the bars didn't so much as show a scratch. He had tried again every so often, to check for any sign of weakening in his cage, but had always been disappointed to the point where he stopped trying.

Now, however, was a different story. He had had time to study the workings of the seal; it was tied into the very life force of the brat who housed him, his Jinchuuriki. However, where normally this would mean that the death of his carrier would result in his release, the thrice-damned Yondaime had added a little something extra to his seal; it had bonded the Kyuubi's life force to the child's as well. This meant that, rather than being ecstatic at his upcoming release, the demon was trying his damndest to extend some influence into the whelp and prevent both of their deaths; as he was already a demon, death meant oblivion. And the Kyuubi did not want that at all.

He had considered sending chakra, which would fit through the bars, but the kid wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with it; he had no training in utilizing chakra to enhance his strength or speed, nor did he know any jutsu that could be used to fend off the predator. Even if he healed the wounds as Naruto acquired them, that would only put off the inevitable; once the brat was ripped into pieces and being digested, it would be too late for a little healing. He'd have to intervene directly… but he couldn't do that while the gate was closed.

In addition to the desperate attack on his prison gate, he was howling at the greatest volume he could muster. "**BRAT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT NOW, DAMMIT! YOU STUPID LITTLE TWIT, RELEASE ME OR WE DIE!"**

**--**

Naruto was still frozen as he noticed the cat-beast evaluating whether to attack him or to kill the one already wounded. When the cat started moving towards him, his crying redoubled, as did his mental assertions; '_I don't want to be kitty food! I want to live! I WANT TO LIVE!'_

The shopkeeper was also struggling up, cursing his pride; he'd thought that none of the animals here were a match for him, but apparently he'd let his conditioning slack even more than he'd thought. 10 years before, he could have taken a wound like this one and barely even noticed, as far as combat efficiency went; now, it was all he could do to keep conscious from the pain and loss of blood. How ironic, to be killed in the way he'd threatened the demon child?

Naruto broke slightly from his fear, picking up a fairly thick stick. "Go away!" He threw it at the monster approaching him cautiously, wary for some trick from the elder of its prey. It didn't even notice the stick, as it went flying almost five feet over it. When it felt that the old one was truly no threat, and not merely pretending, it turned it full attention to the young one, tamping down its hindquarters as it prepared to pounce. All to quickly it was in the air, barreling straight towards Naruto's body, claws outstretched and mouth wide open.

Naruto screamed when he saw the final approach, throwing up his arms in a futile attempt to guard his life. It was heading straight for him! It was halfway there already! It was…

Gone.

Naruto slowly uncovered his head, staring with disbelief at the walls that surrounded him. This was most certainly not the forest. He jumped as he heard an incredibly loud clang, followed by cursing in the loudest voice he'd ever heard. "**GET YOUR WORTHLESS ASS IN HERE, BOY, WE DON'T HAVE ALL FUCKING DAY!**"

Naruto moved slowly down the corridor towards where the voice had come from, stumbling as he saw the giant barred gate. When he saw what was behind the gate, he started crying again. "WAAAH! It's an even bigger monster!"

The Kyuubi stopped pounding, snarling down at his Jinchuuriki. "**CUT THAT OUT, YOU IDIOT! OPEN THE GATE BEFORE THE CAT KILLS YOU!**"

Naruto cowered, although he stopped crying when he realized that the huge fox couldn't get through the gate. He flinched when he realized two things. "What! How can you talk! And, and, if I let you out, you're just going to eat me! I'm not stupid!"

The fox slammed its head against the gate in frustration, causing Naruto to leap backwards with a yelp. When the Kyuubi realized that a frightened child wasn't going to do anything productive, he forcibly calmed himself down, fighting against the rage that was so natural for him. "**Shut up. I'm not going to eat you."**

Naruto stopped backpedaling once again. He now had a suspicious look on his face. "Are you sure?"

The Kyuubi began to snarl, but twisted his expression into a grimace that could, with a bit of imagination, be called a smile. "**… Yes.**"

Naruto accepted that at face value. Had he been older, he might have continued questioning, but he figured that if a fox could talk, it wouldn't bother lying. "So why do you want me to open the gate if you don't want to eat me? The cat ain't here."

Kyuubi inhaled briefly, then exhaled in an explosive snort. Naruto was pushed back a little, and only kept his balance by waving his arms in a windmill. "**This place isn't real. The cat is still outside attacking your body.**"

Naruto started panicking again. "But, but, then that means it could be eating me right now!"

Kyuubi shook his head. "**Time is slowed outside when you're here. You'll be fine if you just open the d… the gate.**"

Naruto nodded solemnly for a moment. "… Huh?"

Kyuubi breathed in deeply, resisting the urge to simply start screaming at the brat. Why, oh why did his container have to be so stupid? Why couldn't he have been sealed in some genius child that wouldn't be dumb enough to prank ex-shinobi and get them in this situation in the first place? "**Just let me out and I'll kill the cat.**"

Naruto nodded. That sounded good to him. But then he paused again. "What are you, anyway? And what are you doing inside me?"

Kyuubi grasped mentally for something other than 'engine of destruction' before coming up with an answer that he knew would sway his juvenile host. "**… I'm your hidden power. You have to open the gate to use me.**"

Naruto's eyes widened comically. "Hidden power? You mean, you mean, like a bloodline? Like, now I can fly and shoot lasers and stuff!"

Kyuubi wondered if he should feel guilty about such an easy play. "**Sure. Something like that. Now, time's wasting, let me out.**"

Naruto nodded excitedly. "Yeah!" He ran towards the gate, before stopping midstep and sweatdropping himself. "Um, how? I'm too little to move that big gate."

Kyuubi looked skyward for a moment, mumbling about idiot jinchuuriki, before facing Naruto again. "**Just command the gates to open. They should obey you.**"

Naruto grunted an affirmative. He then faced the gates head on, pointing a declarative finger in a pose he might have made famous as his 'I'm gonna be Hokage!' pose in another life. "Open up, stupid gates!"

There wasn't any movement for a long moment, causing both current occupants of Naruto's mind to become disheartened, before a loud creaking and groaning started, followed by the gate moving slowly upward. The Kyuubi leapt to his feet, all nine tails waving in anticipation, while Naruto did a little happy dance. Both actions curtailed when a massive screech sounded, and the gate stopped moving. It had only raised enough for Kyuubi to maybe squeeze his paws through.

Kyuubi had a sinking feeling as he rechecked the lines on the seal. There was a new element that had not been present before, which appeared to be a hidden failsafe preventing the full opening of the gate; the Yondaime had probably put it in against the possibility of demonic corruption of Naruto. It was infernally clever; if the seal had been incapable of being tampered with from the outside, then the inside would have been more open to attack. The pitiful opening that had been made was far too small for the Kyuubi to escape. Wait… it wasn't that small…

Naruto was crying again. After all, if the fox couldn't get out, then he couldn't get the cat, and Naruto would get eaten after all. He stopped when he saw that the fox was grinning. At least, Naruto hoped that the wide baring of teeth was a grin. "Wha?"

Kyuubi continued grinning. "T**his might just be enough after all. Just sit back and watch.**" So saying, the demon fox turned around, facing the rear of his prison, before sitting down again, his tails now facing the gates. Apparently Naruto hadn't noticed previously that there were nine of them, a number that was ringing some bells far off in his memory, as he gasped out loud when he saw them. The Kyuubi looked over his shoulder and smirked. "**Now, to deal with that little pest…**" And he slithered his tails under the opening.

--

Back in the real word, the old shopkeeper turned his head as he saw the cat land on the blonde boy, sending up a cloud of leaves as they landed. Although he didn't really care for the demon carrier, he hadn't wanted him to die. And he most definitely hadn't wanted to see him ripped apart by a large predator. He heard a yowl from the cat, probably proclaiming its victory to the forest, and the rustling of more leaves. Then he heard another thing which made him resume watching the cat's position; a cry of pain… from the cat.

He gaped in disbelief at what he saw: One small mound of leaves was in the middle of eight other waving pillars of leaves, one of which was withdrawing from where it had apparently dealt a vicious blow to the hunting cat. He could see it spread out against a tree for a moment before gravity reasserted itself and the cat fell to the forest floor. He was at a loss as to what was happening; he had never heard of a jutsu that attacked with leaves, and even had there been one, this was way beyond the abilities of any six year old; before the mound unfurled itself into another pillar, showing him something that made him freeze in a new sort of terror.

The blonde stood unharmed, surrounded by nine waving lines of leaves; the way the leaves blended together and rustled almost made them appear to be fur, fur covering… "Nine tails…"

Naruto turned to look at the man who had almost been the cause of his demise, smiling cheerfully, not even noticing as one of the tails formed into an edge and sliced down into the cat, ensuring that it would not get back up. "Aren't they neat? My hidden power is even cooler than I thought!"

End Prologue.

Edited on 4/21/08 to revise Kyuubi's dialog.


	2. Chapter 1

The combination of blood loss and shock was too much for the shopkeep, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out

The combination of blood loss and shock was too much for the shopkeep, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out. Naruto huffed. "Jeez, you're s'posed to say 'thank you' at least."

Naruto grumbled a bit more under his breath before walking over to the unconscious man. "Wow, that's a lot of blood." Naruto felt queasy momentarily, but forced the feeling down. After all, he was a tough guy now! "Alright, guess I shouldn't leave you here, even if you are a mean old bastard." Naruto grabbed the man's arm and shook him. "Wake up, old man."

The man continued to lie unmoving, blood slowly spreading through what little remained of his shirt. Naruto frowned. "Worthless old man, falling asleep all the time. Now I have to carry you." Naruto tried to drag the old man by his arm, but only managed to move him a few feet after several heaves. Naruto was panting from even this much effort as he tried to find an alternative means to move the heavy burden.

Suddenly Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! Hidden power!" He looked over at one of the tails waving idly behind him. "Pick that guy up."

The tail stopped for a moment, not moving at all. Naruto waited a moment before scowling. "Hey! I know he's a stupid old man, but I can't leave him! He needs a bandage or something! Pick him up so we can get him outta here!"

The tail quivered, seeming on the brink of twitching outright, before slowly moving under the man and wrapping around his torso several times, subsequently staunching the flow of blood. The tail then moved back around behind Naruto, tightening in until it looked like the old man was floating right behind the child. Naruto smiled happily. "Great! Now, which way was it again?" A different tail pointed in the direction opposite to that where the retired shinobi had been facing. "Awesome! Let's go!" With that, Naruto began marching off, confident that he would not be attacked further.

X X X X

Inside his prison, Kyuubi struggled to keep himself under control. It was very difficult.

On the one paw, he now had some freedom. A small degree, for sure, but any amount was infinitely better than what he had had before. It was nearly intoxicating; he felt the urge to start smashing over trees just to revel in having made them fall. On the other, the child now felt he had the right to make demands of the greatest bijuu of all time. Such impertinence had been met with much worse than mere slaughter in the past.

The demon wasn't stupid, though. He knew that, as chafing as it was, the freedom he was currently allotted could be revoked at almost any time by his jinchuuriki. The only way to make sure that it wasn't was to keep the kid happy. If that meant listening to his whining occasionally, well, it was a small cross to bear.

Also, he was nowhere near as strong as he had been in his own body. It took a lot of concentration to move chakra about outside of a body's pathways, and more still to keep it in a coherent enough shape to affect anything. Another portion of his concentration was needed to even see what was happening outside the prison, although this was somewhat easier now that his chakra was outside the cell. With Kyuubi's currently limited perception of the outside world, directly striking with his chakra was next to impossible, which was why he had had to manipulate the leaves.

What this meant was that the Kyuubi needed time. Time to get used to moving his chakra about directly, time to study the newly revealed portions of the seal, and time to get his brat host to trust him. This meant no provoking his host, as grating as that was. It also meant not provoking the ninjas of Konoha into attacking, which meant no killing the peasants of the town. Actually, after further thought, it probably meant not scaring them either. Which meant hiding the tails. Which meant less freedom.

Kyuubi snarled, even as he retracted the other eight tails, reducing them from towering pillars of demon-chakra reinforced vegetable might to pitiful stubs, compressing the leaves as much as possible to make them inconspicuous. Some of the mass had to be discarded, which meant that he was left with even less functionality than before. Kyuubi grimaced. The tails were now pressed flat against the child's back, making him look like a walking bush from behind. Fully extended, he might have a reach of two meters with an individual tail. Maybe as he got more used to this, he would be able to compress more leaves? Time would tell.

Kyuubi shuddered as he forcibly calmed himself again. Any freedom was a chance. And he was not going to fuck this chance up.

X X X X

One of Konoha's chuunin, Mano Sousuke, waited at the outskirts of the village. He had seen a man carrying the fox brat out into the Forest of Death earlier, and knew that he would be coming back this way. He didn't know what the man was doing out there, and he didn't really care either. It wasn't like anyone was stupid enough to risk the Hokage's wrath coming down on their family by doing something permanent. He'd just wait for the two to come back, then escort the kid back to his apartment. If asked, he'd say that he went after the two immediately but didn't catch them before they'd entered the forest.

Hmm? There was the kid already. But where was the man? Sousuke stood up straight. There was something being dragged behind the kid. Green and brown; was the kid starting a branch collection or something equally stupid? "Hey, Uzumaki."

The kid looked up and started waving. "Hey, hey! This guy needs a doctor or something! He got bit by a big cat, and now he won't wake up!"

Sousuke frowned. This guy? Did that mean that the branch was actually a litter? That was way more intelligent and thoughtful than he would have given the fox brat credit for. And, wait, one of the cats bit him? How the hell did the fox kid get away from one of those? Guess the man killed it before he passed out. Sousuke jogged over to take a look at the wound. "Where was he bit?"

The kid turned around and said something indistinct as he started moving the green out of the way. Had he tried covering the wounds with leaves? Some of those had slightly toxic surfaces; direct exposure to the bloodstream would be a bad thing. The chuunin hurried his pace and saw the kid move the last of the leaves out of the way. Those didn't look like bite marks, but they also didn't look life threatening. The leaves had staunched the blood flow enough for that, at least, and none of them looked like one of the toxic variety at a quick glance. There was an odd feeling in the air, but it wasn't anything familiar, and it didn't trip his threat senses.

Sousuke struggled with himself momentarily, before sighing. "Good job, Uzumaki. I'll get him to the hospital. You wait here for somebody to come get you." Sousuke gathered the man up and leapt off, taking the direct route to the hospital. He never noticed that there hadn't been a bracing underneath the leaves.

Naruto pouted. He hadn't even gotten the chance to show that cool guy his new hidden power. He flopped down on his butt and crossed his arms over his chest. He hoped that someone came soon. Or, even better, if that guy was the one who came back. He sure was nice. Maybe he'd want to go get some ramen?

X X X X

Hajiro winced as he regained consciousness. It was muted, but his back felt like a bunch of ants were biting it. This was slowly being soothed away as the familiar feel of healing charka moved through his back. He fought to keep himself still.

"Ah, good. You're awake. You should have known better than to be messing around in Training Ground 44, Konno-san. You're not a chuunin anymore."

Hajiro winced as the memories came back. He hadn't expected one of the tigers to be lurking so near to the edge of the forest. If it had been anything else, he would have been able to deal with it. He was only 41, after all. He hadn't been retired for that long.

"We'll need to keep you here overnight to replenish your fluids. You'll be free to go in the morning. You're very lucky, Konno-san. The wounds were fairly straight, and you only had one fractured rib. It could have been much worse."

Hajiro grumbled as the medic nin lectured him on the dangers of not knowing your limits. He knew all that, dammit. He didn't need some young, smartass…

His blood froze. The brat! The Kyuubi! "Get the Hokage! I need to speak with him immediately!"

"I'm sure you do."

Hajiro jerked in surprise. The voice had come from beside his bed. He turned his head and grimaced momentarily for being so careless, before smiling in relief. "Oh, thank God! Hokage-sama, you need to…"

Sandaime held up a hand. "This is not the sort of discussion to be held in the open." He nodded to the medic. "You have finished treating his wounds?" The medic nin nodded, frowning at being cut off in the middle of her lecture. "Then please, leave us for a moment." The nin bowed before exiting, closing the door behind her.

Hajiro had barely waited for the click of the latch before he started talking again. "Hokage-sama, it's a disaster! The Kyuubi…"

Sandaime held up a hand once again, looking contemplative. Hajiro felt a moment of irritation at being cut off twice in a row, but stopped. Sandaime spoke, "You are worried that the Kyuubi may have breached its seal."

Hajiro nodded firmly. "Yes, Hokage-sama. The boy must be killed immediately, for the sake of the village! Who knows what will happen if the demon fully awakens?"

Sandaime nodded slightly. "Indeed, that could be problematic. However, there will be no killing." Sandaime leveled a look that cut off any protest Hajiro might have tried to make. "The fact that something has happened to the seal does indeed have me concerned. I have already recalled Jiraiya from his travels to inspect it personally, to see if whatever happened to free some part of the Kyuubi's chakra can be reversed."

Hajiro frowned, but nodded slightly. Jiraiya was a legend, both as a ninja and a master of sealing techniques. Surely he would see that the boy was now too dangerous to be left alive. "I see." Hajiro jerked as another thought struck him. "Wait, you already knew?! Has the boy attacked the village!?"

Sandaime shook his head. "No. In fact, it was Naruto who saved your life. He used his new, er, ability, to transport you out of the forest after he had dispatched the tiger. It is for this reason that I am content to allow him to walk unchained until Jiraiya arrives. The Kyuubi, after all, would not have aided you."

Sandaime's gaze grew hard. "You see, Konno-kun, I worry about Naruto. The boy is an orphan, after all, and I know that his life is hard. I take it upon myself to check in on him every once in a while, to make sure that he's alright. Imagine my surprise when I saw you throw him into a training ground that only high level genin are allowed into. The only reason you were not met there by a jounin is because the entire incident was over before the man I summoned arrived. Would you care to explain yourself, Konno Hajiro?"

Hajiro broke into a cold sweat. 'How did he see? How could he have known?' Looking into those unwavering eyes, hearing the steel behind those words, Hajiro decided that it didn't really matter at this point. What mattered was coming up with something to keep himself alive. "I, ah, that is, I wanted to, ah, train him! Yes, I thought that maybe if he had a little training under his belt, he wouldn't, ah, pull so many destructive pranks! Eh-heh…"

Sandaime's gaze didn't change. Hajiro gulped. 'Shit! There's no way he'll believe that crock!'

Without warning, Sandaime broke into a smile. "Oh, is that all? How commendable."

Hajiro gaped in disbelief. 'You mean, he bought it?'

"And such a splendid idea! Why, I think I'll officially endorse it."

Hajiro blinked in confusion. "Eh?" He noticed uncomfortably that what had once appeared to be a smile was really more of a smirk.

"You are now the official warden and trainer of Uzumaki Naruto. Of course, that means it will be up to you to ensure that he eats right. Can't train without the proper nutrients. Oh, and you'll need to buy him some new clothing, and tools. Those clothes are really too flimsy for a ninja in training, don't you think? In fact, why don't you have him move into your house? That would certainly be more convenient. Your child moved out about a year ago, am I right?"

Hajiro was sputtering by now, his face a bright cherry red. "You can't be serious!"

The laughter drained right out of Sandaime's demeanor. "I'm very serious, Konno-kun. You attempted to kill one of the citizens of Konoha in cold blood. Would you like me to exercise one of my other options in your punishment, Konno-kun?"

Hajiro shuddered, before slumping down. "No, Hokage-sama."

Sandaime nodded, looking satisfied. "Very good. The next session of the Academy starts in about two months; I'll arrange for Naruto to be enrolled. I think you understand when I say I'll be very disappointed if he doesn't do well. That boy has an amazing drive to succeed; he practically embodies the will of fire. In fact, he has already announced his plans to succeed me as Hokage!"

Sandaime chuckled a little, before standing. "I'll arrange for Naruto's stipend, plus a little extra, to be delivered to you from now on. I'll keep track of him until Jiraiya arrives; once the seal has been repaired, he will be taken to you. Knowing my student, that should take around a week, maybe two. You can use that time to prepare your household for Naruto's arrival." Sandaime bowed slightly. "I wish you the best, Konno-kun."

He walked over to the door, but paused before opening it. "I am giving you this chance because I believe in you as well, Hajiro." With that, he opened the door and walked out, leaving it ajar for the medic nin.

Hajiro let his head fall back, feeling incredibly drained. 'How the hell am I going to explain this to Michiko?'

X X X X

Sarutobi smiled as Naruto was brought into his office. "It's good to see you, Naruto-kun. How are you doing today?"

Naruto frowned at the chuunin who had escorted him in (He kept trying to brush off Naruto's back while giving him weird looks), before smiling brightly at the Hokage. "I'm doing awesome! I found my hidden power today!"

Sarutobi continued smiling, though it was now a little strained. "Oh really? A hidden power, you say?"

Naruto grinned. "Yup! It's the best! I'll show you!" Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Come out!"

There was a slow rustle, before the nine columns of leaves unfurled themselves from their position crushed against Naruto's back. Naruto scowled when he saw their new height. "Hey! You're supposed to be bigger!"

Sarutobi studied the leaves with frank amazement. Getting leaves to stick to something wasn't that difficult. In fact, it was a basic chakra control exercise in the academy. Getting a leaf to stick to a pure chakra construct was much more difficult, due to the volatile nature of such constructs. Sarutobi wondered why the Kyuubi even bothered.

"Well, that certainly is impressive, Naruto. What can they do?" Sarutobi subtly pushed his chair back from his desk, so as to have an easier time moving should they try to strike.

Naruto gave up frowning in order to grin again. "Well, they used to be a lot bigger, and they can pick up stuff and move around on their own!" Naruto stood up and pointed to his chair. "Hey! Pick up the chair!"

One of the tails moved over and curled around under the chair, wrapping back across the seat once before it reached full extension. It then moved upward slowly, lifting the seat up to Naruto's eye level, before lowering it back down.

Sarutobi masked a frown. The chakra was definitely Kyuubi's. No human could produce chakra like that. But it was obeying the child's orders like a well trained dog! There wasn't even a hint of killing intent in the chakra! What had happened to obtain such complicity from the demon? Had this been some expected aspect of the seal that Arashi had simply not mentioned?

'Well,' Sarutobi thought, 'it isn't like he had the time to explain everything to me before he enacted his plan. And he did say that he wanted Naruto to be regarded as a hero of the village. I had always thought that he simply meant in regards to being the prison of the Kyuubi, but did he actually intend for Naruto to gain control over the demon?' Sarutobi was troubled. If that were the case, then perhaps the 'breaking' of the seal was actually a planned opening? Well, that was what Jiraiya would determine.

Naruto's grin had dimmed somewhat at Sarutobi's lackluster response. He spoke tentatively, "Uh, old man? Are you okay?"

Sarutobi blinked once, before smiling. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I was so caught up in watching it, that I forgot to congratulate you. So, how did you discover this hidden power?"

Naruto's chest puffed up. "Well, I was out walking when this mean old man started yelling at me."

'That would be Hajiro.'

"After a while, he gra- he ran off for some reason, and I thought it wouldn't be good for some old guy to go off on his own like that."

'Hajiro dragged him off.'

"Anyway, he went into some big forest. Forests are dangerous, and he looked pretty weak, so I went in to get him out."

'The scene I witnessed through the globe.'

"I guess some cat bit him or something. It was pretty big. But I wasn't scared! I was going to hit it with a stick and chase it off."

'Sigh. Was I ever this young and foolish? Does he really think I believe all this?'

"But then, some weird thing happened, and I wasn't in the forest anymore. It was some weird cave or something. It was wet."

Sarutobi leaned forward. This was the part that he needed to hear.

"I heard something yelling and banging, so I went to see what it was. And it was some big monster! It kinda looked like a fox, but it had really weird ears and eyes. And it could talk!"

Sarutobi nodded. 'Kyuubi.'

"Anyway, he said, 'Let me out so I can eat the cat.' And then he said something about being my hidden power. Isn't it kind of weird to have a hidden power be a big fox monster?"

Sarutobi smiled uneasily. "Well, you are an exceptional child."

Naruto looked at him for a moment, before smiling. "Yeah, I guess! Then, uh, then he said to tell the big gate to open, so I did. But it only went up a little."

Sarutobi didn't know what to make of this. If his new theory that the emergence of some of Kyuubi's power was planned by the Yondaime was true, then this would fall within reason. On the other hand, it also sounded like what the demon would say to escape.

"But then he said that was okay, and he put his tails through the gate. And he had nine! What kind of critter has nine tails, anyway? It sounds kinda familiar. Wasn't there some thing with the Yondaime about nine tails?"

Sarutobi began to sweat. 'The fox has already revealed itself, and the only reason Naruto hasn't heard the whole story of the Kyuubi's defeat before is because he hasn't entered school yet. But should I reveal the truth to him now, when he is still so young?'

"... I'll tell you about that later." 'It can at least wait until after Jiraiya has examined him.'

Naruto shrugged. "Okay. Well, after he put his tails through, I suddenly woke up outside again, and the cat was jumping. I felt something weird in my tummy for a sec, and then there was some red things behind me. They kinda wiggled for a minute, and then they jumped into the leaves, and then I had these!" Naruto tugged at one of the tails for emphasis, not minding when it twitched away. "But they were a lot bigger then. I don't know why they shrunk."

Sarutobi wondered that too. "Well, you certainly would look silly with nine big green tails waving around. You might not even be able to fit them indoors."

Naruto shrugged again. "Maybe. I guess that could be it. So, then, one tail stopped the cat, and then another one smacked it good!" Naruto hit his palm with his fist, giving off a smack noise. "Like that! And it went flying over! Then, after that, I saw that the old man fell asleep, and he was bleeding kinda bad, so I picked him up and carried him out. Then, that nice guy took him to the hospital, and that other guy came to get me."

Sarutobi nodded. "That certainly is amazing. Say, Naruto? How would you like to visit with my son for a while? He's a jounin, and you could show him your hidden power."

Naruto nodded graciously. "Well, it is pretty cool. I guess he would want to see it. Does he have any ramen?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "I'll tell him to buy some if he doesn't. Now, Shingo will take you to your home. Make sure to take enough clothes to last for a few days. Then he will take you to meet Asuma."

Naruto smiled, not seeming to notice as the tails with drew back against his back. "Sure thing, old man! Say, should I show Shingo my hidden power too?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "It wouldn't be a very good hidden power if you showed it to everyone, would it?" Even as he said this, he marveled at how well the tails had concealed themselves. If he hadn't been monitoring the chakra constantly, he wouldn't even notice it at this point.

Naruto seemed torn, but he nodded. "Yeah, I suppose. Well, guess I'll see you later, old man! Hey Shingo!"

Sarutobi repeated the call. "Shingo-kun, please come in."

Shingo scowled at Naruto for addressing him so familiarly, before bowing to Sarutobi. "Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi gestured towards Naruto. "Please take Naruto to his home, and then to the Sarutobi residence. My son will meet Naruto there."

Shingo looked grateful that Naruto wouldn't be in his charge for too long. He looked down at Naruto. "Go on out to the hall, kid. I need to ask Hokage-sama something."

Naruto looked between the two curiously, before marching out. "Okay. Hurry up, though."

Shingo scowled at Naruto's impertinence, before turning back to Sarutobi. "Hokage-sama? Why are those leaves stuck to his clothing like that?"

Sarutobi paused, before leaning back in his chair. "It would appear that Naruto-kun isn't the only prankster in our village. Do not concern yourself over it."

Shingo stuffed down a smirk at that. Looked like the brat got some of his own medicine. "As you say, Hokage-sama. We'll go now." He left, closing the door behind himself.

Sarutobi merely sat still for a long moment, before retrieving his pipe from his desk. He stuffed the bowl and lit it, puffing silently for close to 3 minutes without changing his expression. Finally, he heaved a great sigh, expelling a large cloud of smoke. "An exceptional child indeed. I dearly hope that this was your doing, Arashi..."

X X X X

It seemed that Jiraiya understood the urgency of the message Sarutobi had sent. Merely four days after dispatching a messenger pigeon, Jiraiya arrived on the back of one of his toads. From the grumbling it gave off and the weary look on Jiraiya's face, it was apparent that they had been traveling for some time; perhaps even through the night. The men on watch had received notice that he would be coming, and so one immediately escorted him to Sarutobi's office.

Sarutobi stood to greet his former student. "I'm glad that you arrived so quickly, Jiraiya. Would you care for something to drink?"

Jiraiya collapsed into a chair, sprawling in it haphazardly as he waved his teacher off. "That's alright, old man. I just need you to let me know if the situation has changed any since I got your message. Since the town is still standing, I can't imagine anything has gone too wrong. After that, I'm gonna go get some sleep, and then do a little research."

Sarutobi frowned. "No, there have been no changes. And I do hope that you mean research on seals."

Jiraiya smiled weakly. "Well, I guess I can do that too." Before Sarutobi could object, Jiraiya sighed irritably. "Yeah, yeah... I know. This is serious. I'm treating this with as much care and caution as anything I ever have. Give me a quick brief so I can go get some sleep."

Sarutobi cleared his throat. "Very well. Naruto has manifested nine distinct portions of demonic chakra, which conform themselves in the shape of tails. They appear to leave directly from the seal over his navel, which has not receded visibly since the incident, and then wrap around to his back. Thus far, the chakra has been using leaves to make a solid purchase, although Asuma has noted several instances where the tails would poke at some other material. Thus far, bark, planed wood, and rubber have all been discarded while cotton and silk have been kept, although they haven't actually been integrated into the tails as of yet."

Jiraiya nodded. "Alright."

Sarutobi continued, "Naruto seems to be completely unaware of these actions, suggesting that they are being performed independently by the Kyuubi itself. On the other hand, the tails will always obey a verbal order from the boy, excepting one case in which the boy asked them to cut down a tree."

Jiraiya blew out a sigh. "No way to tell what's really going on then. Well, it's not like I expected anything new from this meeting." He slowly stood. "Mind if I crash at your place, sensei?"

Sarutobi nodded. "Of course not. Feel free to ask the staff for any meals you may require. Do you still remember where my home is located?"

Jiraiya smirked a little. "Oh, I have way too many good memories of that place to forget it. Actually, that reminds me." He dug around in his bag for a moment before tossing out an orange bound book. "Go ahead and take a look over that. I wanna know what you think about the second section."

Sarutobi coughed and blushed. "Is this really the time?" He did tuck the book away inside his desk, though.

Jiraiya laughed. "Well, like I said, the village isn't burning. I'll talk to you later. I need at least four hours to sleep before I start examining a seal that complex." With that said, Jiraiya strolled out the door, yawning as he went. "Get any notes that my student left behind. I'll probably need to review them."

Sarutobi nodded, even though Jiraiya couldn't see it. "I'll be sure to do that, Jiraiya." He stood up as well, signaling to one of the two chuunin outside his door. "I won't be going to the mission assignments today. Please convey my apologies to Sagara-san, and let him know that he may request whatever assistance he needs from any of the academy instructors."

The chuunin nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama. Will you require any assistance, yourself?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "No, no. I'll be quite alright." The chuunin nodded before exiting. Sarutobi made his way over to a set of shelves containing many scrolls marked with the kanji for 'Forbidden.' He looked through them for a moment, before pulling out one of the larger ones. "I may as well review it, myself. Perhaps I will find something that I missed, before?" He sat back down and prepared himself for a rather grueling study session.

X X X X

Naruto squirmed as the large man with the wierd face stared at his stomach. If the Hokage hadn't told Naruto that the guy was there to help him with his hidden power, Naruto would have run off a while ago. The guy was creeping him out.

The man sat back on his heels and scratched his head. He looked stumped. The old man stepped forward and glanced between Naruto's stomach and the man. "What is wrong, Jiraiya?"

The weird man, apparently named Jiraiya, snorted. "What's wrong? This seal shouldn't be standing up. I have no idea how my student managed this." He pointed to a particular part of the seal. "Look here. This used to be a Shisho Fuin. You can see the other three points clearly. The fourth... is gone. If you remove one corner of a seal like this, one of two things happens: The rest of the seal dissipates, or the whole thing explodes. But somehow, these points on the Hakke no Fuin are compensating for it, leaving the partial seal still viable. I've never seen anything like it."

Naruto looked down at the drawing on his belly. He thought it looked just fine. "It looks fine to me."

Jiraiya looked irritated as he flicked Naruto in the forehead. "You're not a sealing expert."

Naruto clutched at his face as tears came to his eyes. "That hurt, you bastard!"

Sandaime laid a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. "That was unnecessary, Jiraiya." 'And unprudent,' he thought, noticing how the tails had extended themselves out again and were waving slowly.

Jiraiya's eyes flicked upward and down again quickly. He scowled, then sighed and patted Naruto on top of the head. "Sorry about that, kid."

Naruto looked up at him in an unconvinced fashion, before lowering his arms. "'Sokay. Now, though, you have to tell me about my hidden power. And buy me a bowl of ramen." The tails slowly retracted themselves, although one was now hovering over Naruto's shoulder. Naruto didn't seem to notice.

Jiraiya looked like he was considering flicking Naruto again, but dropped it. He gestured to the seal. "I don't know what to tell you. The kid says that all he did was partially open the gate, and apparently that's exactly what happened. Common sense not withstanding." He put a hand under his chin, tilting his head and considering the seal from this new angle. "I guess I could put a seal around it. A gogyo fuin would probably work well. Can't guarantee it wouldn't just cancel whatever reaction is preserving this partial seal, though."

Sandaime tightened his grip on Jiraiya's shoulder. "I had already guessed that something like that would be the answer. But if we can't... Naruto? Naruto, did you fall asleep?" The boy was sitting up straight with glazed over eyes. Sandaime noted uncomfortably that the tails were thrashing. He moved over and shook Naruto, keeping a careful eye on the tails. "Naruto!"

X X X X

Naruto looked around for a moment, confused, but quickly realized where he was. He ran down the hall towards the red light, and sure enough, there was his hidden power. "Hey hey! It's you again!" The fox-looking thing was still sitting down facing into the cage, with his tails stuck under the gate and... that was weird. It looked like they just stopped existing as soon as they crossed the threshold of the gate. "What's wrong with your tails?"

The fox looked over his shoulder. "**Nothing. They're outside. That's not important though. Tell those fools outside not to mess with the seal.**"

Naruto scratched his head. "Eh?"

The massive red creature tightened it mouth shortly, before relaxing it again. It spoke in a voice that a more savvy listener would have pegged as 'forced calmness.' "**If they put on a seal like they're talking about, you won't be able to use my power anymore. That wouldn't be very good. Tell them not to do it.**"

Naruto panicked! "Gah! No way! Those old farts aren't gonna take you away!" He raced off the way he came. "Don't worry! I'll get em to stop!"

Kyuubi shuddered as the brat moved out of sight. It was incredibly difficult controlling himself. He wanted so badly to attack, to slice the throats of those stupid monkeys, to crush them until they were unrecognizable masses of red mush. But, he still wasn't strong enough. He couldn't simply remove this threat to his freedom, so he needed to negotiate by proxy. He just wished that he didn't have to pin his hopes on a stupid little six year old brat.

His face twisted up in a ferocious snarl, his tails nearly swinging out, before calming himself again. They hadn't tried to reseal him up yet. The old man was soft. Kyuubi would retain his freedom.

X X X X

Naruto suddenly snapped out of his little episode, looking around wildly before grabbing onto the Hokage's robes. "You can't take away my special power! It's so cool, and it's useful, and I promise I won't use it to steal anymore stuff from the top shelf, and it beat the cat, and PLEASE you can't!"

Sandaime looked rather non-plussed. Had Naruto been speaking with the demon? "Erm, well, we aren't going to take it away, Naruto. We're just going to, well, try to make it so that you can fit in better. Most people don't have big tails like that, you know."

Jiraiya had been watching wordlessly, but suddenly slapped a hand down on the ground. "I know what to do!" He grinned at Naruto, who was still grabbing the Hokage's robe and babbling full-speed. "Hey kid, do you read manga?"

Naruto trailed off, looking back to the weird man. "Well... I look at the pictures sometimes."

Jiraiya held up a finger, still grinning mischeivously. "Well, all the heroes hide their power until the bad guys come out, right?"

Naruto nodded with a little more confidence. "Yeah."

Jiraiya stood up, puffing out his chest and pointing off into the distance. "Well, we could hardly do less for you! After all, you've got this cool new power, but you don't even have a cool stance to bring it out, or a way to hide it up, or anything!"

Naruto nodded a little more excitedly. "Okay, okay. So you're gonna give me a, a, power crystal or something?"

Jiraiya waved a hand dismissively. "Bah! Crystals are for losers. You're in a ninja village, so we'll give you a ninja way to hide it! Then, all you'll have to do is make a handseal, and voila! Your hidden power can come out and save the day!"

Naruto was now bouncing up and down, having released his grip on Sandaime. The old man himself was looking at Jiraiya as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Naruto cheered. "Yeah! Yeah! That'd be great!"

Jiraiya gestured towards the door, still grinning. "Well, I'll get to work on the seal, so you go out and have fun."

Naruto nodded hard, before running out the door. Sandaime continued to look towards the door for a moment, totally perplexed, before turning back to Jiraiya. He felt even more lost when he saw that Jiraiya's face was now completely serious again. He spoke up, "What exactly was that about, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya nodded in the direction of the door. "The fox is obviously capable of communicating with him directly. It told him what we were planning, and told him to stop us. There's no way he would've made such a fuss, otherwise."

Sandaime considered some of Naruto's past melodramatic antics, before deciding that Naruto's outburst had still been a bit beyond his norm. "Alright..."

Jiraiya shook his head. "That means that the Kyuubi would probably object to us just locking the seal back up again. Possibly even physically object. You understand what I mean?"

Sandaime nodded. "I had already considered that."

Jiraiya looked askance at his teacher. "Did you, now? Yeah, we could probably take him out. Knock the kid unconscious and try to seal up Kyuubi then. But the kid already managed to open the seal once. Who's to say he couldn't do it again? And the next time, Kyuubi would probably be pissed. Since you're not willing to just kill the kid, you can agree that this would be a bad thing." Jiraiya noticed Sarutobi's hard look. "Hey, I don't want to kill him either! Don't give me that look!"

Sandaime eased his glare. "Alright then."

Jiraiya continued, "So, we can't just let the Kyuubi have free reign. But we also can't be sure what would happen if we tried to completely lock him up. Thus, we compromise. A seal capable of opening or closing on command. The best part is, since it's a seal designed with a way to open itself, the chances of it exploding are practically nil. Worst case scenario, nothing happens. Best case, we've got a nice, tight leash on the demon."

Sandaime nodded slowly. "I see. And you said that it would be activated by a handseal? What is to keep Naruto from simply releasing it whenever he chooses?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "That's your problem." He waved his hands and chuckled when Sarutobi glard at him again. "Kidding, kidding! He hasn't even started at the academy, right? That means it'll be a year or two before he even knows how to mold chakra. Plenty of time for you to drill him on when to use or not use it."

Sandaime levelled a flat gaze at his student. "So really, you weren't kidding at all."

Jiraiya nodded affably. "Pretty much."

Sandaime sighed. "Well, I suppose it isn't too much of a burden. But you never answered my question."

Now Jiraiya looked confused. "What? Yes I did."

Sarutobi shook his head. "No, no you didn't. I wanted to know where exactly all the, enthusiasm, and support of children's manga came from."

Jiraiya sweatdropped. "Er, well, he wouldn't listen to a rational argument. He's a kid, you gotta convince him with childish things. You know?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "I'm sure. Well, I'll support this venture of yours. Just try not to get too carried away, hmm?"

Jiraiya growled. "I hate you, old man." He continued to growl as Sandaime only laughed and walked away. After a moment, he stopped. "Well, it was pretty stupid. Anyway, off to work." He unrolled a spare scroll that he had brought and laid it next to the drawing of the current seal on Naruto. "This shouldn't take too long."

Edited on 4/21/08 to fix a few little mistakes I noticed.


End file.
